Thursday, 18 January 2018

Quill White Box adventure: The Demon-Haunted Tower

Nothing has been the same since the appearance of the obsidian tower near Swanvale village. Crops have spontaneously combusted, animals are running amok and people are growing weak and pale. Landlord Reginald Finnegan says a wizard lives there. Others say it's a demon spirit in the form of an old man. They do agree that he must be stopped.

To gain entry, you must discover what aura of magic surrounds the tower. For this you require a certain book on magical fortifications for the city library.

Profile: you are writing to the librarian Guhlo Chom, and old acquaintance who holds many a rate book. The Spire Libiris is one of his prized books and this is just what you need. You must try and convince him to lend you the book, which is not strictly for lending, explaining the situation and possibly trying to appease his ego.

Rules of correspondence: a fellow magical scholar has an advantage here. +1 to Language rolls for Magic-users and elves.

Fewer than 5 points: Guhlo does not return your letter and certainly doesn't send you a book for your sloppy letter that offended him greatly. You decide against your better judgement and head to the tower. No sooner have you tried to enter the door than your bloody body is propelled away from the door, hitting an oak trunk hard, splitting your skull open. You are dead.

6-8 points: Guhlo wishes you well but cannot send you the book. Instead he has scratched out a relevant page from the book to help you. This should be enough to get you in, but you worry about once you're inside. You gather your equipment and head to the tower. At the great black door you use the page to dispel a Rune of Dread Propulsion and enter. You fight several shadow beasts before falling into the pit of a monstrous dire bear. You manage to just escape with your life and ascend the tower. Because you didn't have the book, you were unable to identify all the magic traps in the tower, so found yourself being burned, stabbed and gassed, but managing to stay alive to meet your enemy. The showdown with the wizard Zenkhit lasts seemingly an age as he floats through the room, eyes sparking, hair aflame, lobbies bolts at you. You learn he is a wizard with aspirations of becoming the first interdimensional being, but must use his tower to feed in the life force of all around him to power its engine. Despite his power you finally best him and he agrees to leave and never return. You gain 5gp.

9+ points: Guhlo is ecstatic with your letter and sends you the book at once. After a night of study you head out to the tower, deftly dealing with the Rune if Dread Propulsion on the black door. You dispatch of several shadow beasts but soon find yourself in a pit with a dire bear. Or is it that it is trapped in there with you? You make short work of the hairy hulk and climb out. You ascend, taking care of a range of magical traps, from flamethrowing statutes to wards that keep away warn blooded creatures. Eventually you reach the wizard's room. The showdown with the wizard Zenkhit is quick. He floats through the room, eyes sparking, hair aflame, lobbies bolts at you. You learn he is a wizard with aspirations of becoming the first interdimensional being, but must use his tower to feed in the life force of all around him to power its engine. Despite his power you make short work of slaying him. You gain 10gp and a Warlock's Quill (3 uses: +2 to Penmanship roll).